40 days of dating
by khaleesifromdc
Summary: based on the real life story (fortydaysofdating dot com). begins setted up after 'hot pursuit'. rated T for possible language in the future. enjoy!
1. Prologue

He sat on one of the tables of Nervosa, patiently waiting for his coffee to be served. Frasier Crane didn't expect anyone to be joining him that day; not his family and certainly not a date. He was simply looking for some place to reflect on his life and the paths he had chosen over the years.

A soft touch on his shoulders made him shiver, cutting his line of thought. He looked around, getting ready to burst at the attendant, but instead he found brownish hair and a sappy smile directed at him.

"Oh, it's you, Roz."

"What happened to you?" Without waiting to be asked, she joined him right away, putting her coffee on the table. "You look terrible, Fras."

"I've come here to think about things, and I've come to a decision." After saying it dramatically, he paused, trying to make suspense. His assistent knew him way too much to fall for it. "I'm giving up on dating."

"Oh, God, Frasier, not this again. I've known you for what, seven years now? We've had this conversation at least 10 times. It's getting a bit tiring, really."

"No, I'm serious now. I just had an epiphany. I'm never going to settle down with someone the way I want to, so why bother?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Look, Frasier, you're going to find someone. Lots of someones, actually. Seattle is full of women who would go crazy to date you."

"That's the point, Roz! I don't want to date people. I want to love a person, and be loved back. I love... _love_. You know?"

She bit a straw, looking serious. "Frasier, you over-think things. Just put yourself out there, like I do. Someday you'll find something. And while you don't find it, at least you'll be having some fun."

"I'm done having fun. I want a relationship, not a series of encounters. I can't put myself out there like you, because you want the opposite of me, Roz."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, c'mon. You don't want a relationship. You're afraid of them, so you go from guy to guy." He tried to say it carefully, but the damage was done.

"I do not!" She said, offended. "I just haven't found someone that I really can see myself settling with, you know?"

She took a sip of her coffee, as the attendant brought her boss his order. An awkward silence followed them for a few moments.

"Okay, maybe I have been escaping from serious relationships", she finally spoke. "Damn it, Frasier, you're putting me in a funk, too."

"You always find trouble and break up before giving the guy a chance." He pointed out.

"Well, I might be scared of commitment, but you're the one who scare women with your love for commitment."

"I do n... Okay, you're right." He sighed, sipping his expresso. "And that's why I'm giving up."

"Just like that? Wow, Frasier, are you the same guy who told Betty from Spokane that she should try to change to achieve her dreams?"

"Her dream was to be a brunette, Roz." He said, annoyed. "That's quite different from my situation."

"Look, we're on the opposite sides of a spectrum of screw ups. We might suck at love, but It doesn't mean we should stop trying at all. We should just... try to learn how to correct our mistakes."

"Oh yeah, how?", he said with a mocking tone. "Dating each other? Yeah, that would stop the trainwreck."

She didn't answer immediately, which made him turn to really look at her. That was absurd, he was sure of it. She avoided his eyes, taking the last sip as slow as possible. She cleared her throat before explanning.

"No, not date each other. Not for _real_. But as we're both single, we could do an sort of experiment... as friends, you know. Go through the dating process, seeing what are our most common mistakes and notify each other, so we can try to avoid them in the future."

"You mean, doing this as cientifically as possible? That could... work. If we report everything, and get someone professional to analyze us... this could really work, Roz!"

His voice got more excited as hers got more careful. "Pro-professional? I was really thinking about you know, a date and that was it."

"No, no no! We could do the whole experience! 40 days." He took a paper from the table, and started to look for his pen on his suitcase. "You see, I assume we're both charming and galant on our first dates, cause getting a second one isn't so hard. It's the later that is the problem, isn't it?"

"I suppose."

"As you said, we're both single. We're friends long enough to be comfortable telling each other what's really wrong. I guess we could make this work!"

She almost immediately regretted giving him the idea. It sounded wrong. Frasier was... well, Frasier. But she didn't want to spend the rest of her life going from meaningless to meaningless relationships. Alice was growing up, and it would be nice to have a father figure around. God knows Rick made his entire life in Paris... and while she'd like to say otherwise, she did listen to Frasier when he spoke up about her crap, and she knew that he did the same.

"This is... crazy, Fras. This is really crazy. And dangerous. We could ruin our friendship."

"It will be all circunstancial, Roz. See, it's perfect. It's our chance to get over or problems!" His face was lit with the excitment. "It's crazy, but adventurous. And new."

She was finally sold.

"So, how would this work? Should we make rules?"

He wrote on the paper, with a flourishing calligraphy: '40 Days of Dating'. She laughed at his girly action, but did not comment on it. "Rule number one would be that we should see each other every day", he said as he was writing.

"That sounds reasonable" Roz said. "We do see each other everyday at work, so it wouldn't be so difficult."

"Rule number two... we should go to two dates a week."

"Two? That's not usually what happens in my life." She pointed out. "Make it three, to be more realistic."

"Okay, three dates a week." He risked the number two, and fixed the paper. "Let's see.. well, we gotta see a professional once a week."

"You mean, a couple's therapist? Is that really necessary, Frasier?" She didn't like to be analized.

"We can use Niles, he's good. And not a stranger. We need someone to push our boundaries, a person to have a professional opinion on our personal growth."

"Fine, we'll use Niles. As long as he doesn't mock my love life anymore. I won't take it."

"I'll be specific about that when I talk to him, but you can be certain that he won't. He's a professional, after all. Next. Rule number four... we should report everything. You know, so we can compare the thoughts over the process."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, this is going to be so boring. I didn't write diaries even when I was in high school. But okay, we can try that. What else?"

"The correct thing would be for us not to date anyone else in the period. Not see, date, hookup, or have sex with anyone else. But I know this isn't usually your style..." She looked at him, pissed. "...no judgement, but let's be honest, it isn't. So, it's up to you."

"Exclusive for 40 days. Talk about a challenge.. okay, accepted."

"And we should go on a trip in the last weekend of the experiment. The final barreer."

"Fine. Anything else, mister?"

He finished writing and made two lines at the end. He looked at her, pensative. This was really a crazy idea. Smiling, he signed, and passed to her. She hesitated for a second before signing it too. They shook hands.

"I feel good about this, Roz. It's going to be a fun experience. And you know, no consequences. What could_ possibly_ go wrong?"


	2. Shrink Talk

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the reviews! This chapter took me more time than I expected, but I think that the result pays off. I don't think I'll be writing for every day of their experiment, but for now, here are days one and two. Enjoy, and comments are always welcome.

* * *

**DAY ONE**

As Frasier said his famous catchphrase "I'm listening", he was able to glue a little piece of paper so she could see it through the glass while still doing her job.  
It was a cute handwritten note, with the words "Forty to go, are you ready?" in the same delicate, flourishing calligraphy. She smiled, amused by his  
enthusiasm.

He spent the day with a smirk on his face, like a little boy after making a prank. He'd take her out for their very first date, and Roz was afraid she'd end up in  
a opera or a fancy french bistro or some other Frasier-like place that she would feel terrible at. She was happily surprised by his choice: a simple bar, with  
nothing pompous.

"Just two friends having a drink and getting to know more about each other tonight", he said, as they seated.

Spending time together was easy and fun, and never felt like an obligation nor a duty. They talked and laughed between glasses of wine, enjoying each  
other's company as usual. She told him stories about Alice's achievements while he told her about how empty the apartment would feel without Daphne, once  
she moved out for her life with Donny. Time passed quickly, and before they knew, the barman told them they were closing.

"You know Fras... I feel good about this, for now." Roz said, as he opened the door of the cab for her. "This night was... very good."

"Absolutely delightful, I'd say", Frasier added, smiling.

She rolled her eyes at the fancy word, but cracked a smile after. "Yeah, whatever."

* * *

**DAY TWO**

Niles was grinning awkwardly as he opened the door to receive his newest clients. He couldn't believe his brother had the guts to do such an idiotic  
experiment. He greeted Frasier and Roz, who took their seats right in front of him.

"Well, well, well." He finally said, smiling. "The two birds arrived."

"Look, Niles, first rule of this thing is," said Roz, using her hands "no jokes. Not about my sex life, not about the way i handle romantic things, okay?"

"Okay, Roz, calm down. It's therapy, I'm not allowed to say anything that's been heard in those four walls. Doctor-patient confidentiality."

She crossed her legs, annoyed. She had been keeping this a secret from the Crane brothers for the last seven years, but truth was, she was terrified of being  
analyzed. The very thought of a professional pointing out your flaws was, in her mind, frightening. Frasier gently put his hands on her knee, as a way to calm  
her down, which always used to work.

"Are you guys one hundred percent sure you're doing this, right?" Niles sat in his chair, looking deeply into his brother eyes. After all that time, pursuing  
something with his co-worker wasn't logic, and definitely not something Frasier would do.

"Yes, sure, why not", Roz said, as her boss laughed.

"Okay, so we're going to start by answering some questions. First of all... why are you doing this project? Why don't you two just.. you know, date each other  
for real? What's the real goal?"

Both gasped at the sudden load of questions. Niles watched, amused, as his brother and his assistant tried to come up with answers. Frasier finally spoke.

"Well, we are doing this to... to try to heal each other, right Roz?"

She followed his lead. "Yeah, we realized how messed up we are in terms of relationship. We're getting tired of meaningless flings- Niles, don't you dare!" She  
added, as Niles' face twisted at the statement, trying hard not to make jokes about it. "Frasier and I are in opposite sides."

"By doing this, we think we can help each other to be normal dating human beings that are not so... dysfunctional around others. So we can finally find  
someone, settle down... the whole thing."

Niles took notes, shaking his head while the duo talked some more. He finally raised a finger. "Are you two even attracted to each other?"

The psychiatrist studied his patient's expressions for a moment. Frasier was blushing in a almost-girly way, avoiding to look at his experimental-date. Roz  
looked at the ceiling, calculating her words, while her hands twitched on her lap, in a nervous way. After some awkward glances, she finally broke the silence.

"Frasier is very charming."

He looked at her, surprised. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I've said a thousand times that I think you're a great catch, Fras."

His face was lit with excitment. "To be honest, I thought you were only doing your friend duty. I always thought you'd never... well, anyway." He looked at  
Niles. "Yes, the attraction is mutual."

"Why is this an experiment, then? Do you want do date each other?"

Niles was shooting these questions straight at their faces, and he could see how unprepared they were. He thought he would get honest answers in that way,  
which seemed to be working. He was surprised at most of it, really. The patients looked at each other.

"We are coworkers. We all know office romances never work out, and are extremely complicated. And most of all, we are friends. Good friends." Frasier  
smiled at her. "We're established in this way, and I would never risk our friendship."

Roz nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, me neither. Also, I think we have so many different views on life itself. It would never work for real. It never seemed.. organic,  
with us."

Niles was now quite taken with the courage of his bother in doing something so... strangely awkward. And somehow, it was appealing. He wondered again if  
this was just a sick trick made up by Frasier so he could fulfill his desire for Roz. His thoughts immediately drifted to Daphne, and to how sshe would handle this  
situation had he proposed the same deal to her. Would've she said yes? Would've worked?

He looked at the portrait of Mel, on the right side of his table. Her pale smile and cold, beautiful eyes stared right into his soul. Judging him. Niles was suddenly filled with shame for his awful thoughts. Turning his attention back to the semi-couple standing next to him, he decided to throw some other questions.

"Are you ready to be hurt?"

Roz swallowed hard. Truth being told, that never occurred to her. All of this time, she wasn't actually taking seriously the whole deal thing, because it didn't felt  
real. The questionnaire stupid Niles was doing made her really nervous, feeling the pressure for the first time. She didn't like that at all. Biting her lip, she  
looked at Frasier, trying to look for an answer in his eyes. He noticed how unsure she was.

"It won't happen." He said, firmly, looking at her. There was a real honesty in his words, and most of all, in his eyes, which calmed her down, making her  
smile a little. "I'll try my best not to, at least. I think we are safe from all the actual drama."

Niles looked at his watch. "Okay, we only have time for one more question. What do you think will happen at the end of the fortieth day?

This time, neither dared to answer. Roz really hadn't though about it, which made her really anxious. What were they getting into? The silence went awkward  
as both Frasier and Roz tried to figure that one out, but nothing came out of their mouths.

"You know what, it's okay. Too soon to say anything." Niles tried to light up the very terrified faces standing in front of him. "I know these questions are harsh  
and direct, but it's because otherwise you two wouldn't get to the honest answers we got today. I guess I see you next week? As patients, of course. I'll see  
you later at the opera, Frasier." He added, opening the door with a wink.

As they were leaving the office, Frasier noticed how quiet Roz was. With small talk, he tried to make her talk about the session on the elevator.

"This was very... eye-opening, I'd say."

"I guess. I just feel... pressured. Do you?" She looked at him with her big, brown eyes.

"It's weird, in a way. I gotta say, Niles ability was impressive. For a Jungian, I expected a lot less." He smiled at her. "Hey, you're free to leave whenever you want."

"Yeah, and let my obvious problems continue to get in the way of my life? No way. It's just... weird, I guess."

"Hopefully it will all be worth it. Hey, 2 down, 38 to go!" He said as he was leaving, waving at her.

It sure felt like a whole lot to go through.


End file.
